Chapter 4 - The Wolf Awakens
Within twenty minutes, the Sartori mansion transformed from a silent mausoleum into an armed fortress. Three private physicians were flown in by helicopter from Manhattan, their medical kits clattering across the marble foyer as Rosalind stood at the landing, barking orders to armed guards stationed at every exit.
Matteo had opened his eyes.
They were not clouded with confusion or delirium. They were dark, sharp, and lethal. When the doctor attempted to shine a penlight into his eyes, Matteo caught the physician's wrist with enough force to blanch the man's knuckles, releasing him only when Rosalind entered the room.
""Mother,"" Matteo croaked, his voice thick from disuse.
""Lie still, Matteo,"" Rosalind said, her composure finally breaking as tears tracked down her foundation. ""You have been asleep for seven weeks. The ventilator tube was only just removed.""
Matteo ignored her. His gaze cut across the room like a laser, ignoring the doctors, the nurses, and his mother, until it locked directly onto me. I was standing in the shadows by the corner wardrobe, Poppy perched safely on my hip, her arms wrapped around my neck.
""Nell Hayes,"" he said. It wasn't a question. It was an identification.
A shiver raced down my spine. ""Yes, Mr. Sartori.""
""Put her down,"" he commanded softly.
""Matteo, she is a child,"" Rosalind warned. ""She doesn't know—""
""Put her down, Nell.""
His gaze was intense, but beneath the hardened exterior of a man who ruled by fear, I saw something raw, ancient, and protective. I placed Poppy gently on her feet. She didn't hesitate. She walked right back to the edge of the mattress, resting her chin on the rail.
""You woke up,"" she said matter-of-factly. ""Did my song work?""
The corner of Matteo’s mouth twitched into the faintest hint of a smile—a expression his mother later told me had not appeared on his face in ten years. ""Your song worked, little bird.""
He slowly turned his head to look at me again. ""Julian made me swear an oath before he was taken. He knew the Romano family had infiltrated his inner circle. He knew they were tracing his bank cards. He walked into that trap on purpose so they would follow him to the river instead of hunting down your pregnancy clinic.""
Tears blurred my vision. ""He died to protect us?""
""He died so you would live,"" Matteo said, his voice dropping into an icy register that made the room temperature plummet. ""And I spent four years tearing this city apart trying to find where you hid. The day I crashed, I had just signed the final adoption and protection decree. In the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of our family, Poppy is not an orphan. She is the sole heiress to the Sartori empire. And you, Nell... you are under my personal protection.""
Just then, the heavy oak door was shoved open without a knock.
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Standing in the doorway was Dante Sartori—Matteo's first cousin, the man who had been acting as head of the family business during Matteo's coma. His suit was immaculately tailored, but his face had turned the color of chalk.
""Cousin,"" Dante said, his voice strained. ""The board... we were told you had flatlined.""
